Chapter 228: Accused by the Kingdom of Fire

After taking a relaxing bath, we changed into our clothes.

I used my previous light armor while the queen changed into a beautiful dark purple dress with a few light purple stars. 

Bridget had already changed into a full set of heavy knight armor, so she just waited for us to change. 

"My lady, how come you don't sleep with the king?" I ask the queen, who just finished changing while the maids were flattening any folds in her clothes. 

"We haven't slept with each other in years due to how busy we are," The queen responds but didn't show even the slightest bit of sorrow. 

Interesting... I could use this... 

As soon as the maids gave the queen a signal that her dress is ready, we all walked out of the room with Bridget and me right by the queen's side. 

"May I ask something, my lady?" I ask the queen, who had her usual cold expression, which seemed to look down on everything. 

"Oh, when did you get so polite?" The queen responds, looking at me dead in the eyes.

"I don't want to get punished," 

"Well, that's too bad as I enjoyed it," The queen shrugs before returning her head to the front of her.

This sadist… why is everybody around me a sadist? It's not fair… I can never be the top even though I'm stronger than all of them… 

"Am I a masochist?" I mutter to myself. 

"Indeed you are," Bridget responds to my comment. 

"W-what that's not possible. I like being at the top, but I can never be one because everybody around me is a sadist!" I shout, with my eyebrows furrowing. 

The queen slightly chuckles to herself, causing me and Bridget to look at each other in shock. 

It was the first time we heard the queen laugh or even chuckle to herself as she always had a face similar to a stone. 

"Well, I don't have that problem as I'm straighter than a pencil," Bridget adds to my comment as it seems she wanted to try and make the queen laugh but fails miserably. 

"Do you like being dominated?" I ask Bridget, who had a nonchalant expression. 

"Uhhhhh… I don't know about being dominated, but I want to have normal sex- anyway, let's stop talking about this in front of the queen," Bridget says, immediately trying to stop our interesting conversation. 

"No, no, continue. It's interesting," The queen speaks up. 

"M-my queen. It is rude to talk about such vulgar things in front of you, so I would like to restrain myself, and hopefully, Arpious can do the same," Bridget responds. 

"Fine," I pull back. 

The rest of the walk to the training room was relatively silent until Bridget split off from us and trained with the knights. Only until she left did I bring up what I've been mainly wanting to ask. 

"So… I heard about the war with the [Mountain of Twilight]... How is it? Are you winning, or do you need any help from other kingdoms?" I ask as we make our way to the supposed throne room. 

"Ah, I see the news has already spread to even slaves… Well, I guess I can tell you about it as I'll be bringing you to a few of the war councils that will take place over the next few days," The queen responds. 

Huh? Next few days? Shouldn't the war be over by then? 

"It seems you are confused as the first war that took place was a sort of all-out war, but right now, we are making a prolonged war where we try to fight for a piece of land where we can then expand from. 

The first problem we encountered during the first war was a massive terrain disadvantage as we were cut off in between the intersection of a rancid smelling swamp and a massive dense forest filled with tall trees that they have mastered movement over," The queen explains. 

Pretty standard information. 

"Next, the most important problem would probably be the overwhelming power disparity between our commanders and then their commanders. But then they even have commanders above those commanders, which we have predicted to be the rulers of the monster nation. 

So, we, of course, requested help from Lan, but that bastard had so many conditions that I don't even know if he'll be ready by the time the deciding battle comes by," The queen says, shaking her head in disappointment and anger. 

"What about the king? I heard he was pretty strong," 

"Ah, Dior… His strength has indeed increased by leaps and bounds after using the Aether Stone… but he has so many duties around the kingdom that he cannot lead the soldiers into battle or even stay at the front lines. 

Plus, all of the heroes died, and we are currently looking for some more… but it seems the search is hopeless. Even the two who managed to make it back have severe PTSD that they can't even hold weapons anymore," The queen says with a pressuring aura releasing from her body. 

The queen doesn't have any children? Also... Did Zehar really shake them up that bad? How pitiful… Well, those kids were bound to die, so I guess they just got lucky. 

"So what you're trying to say is… this kingdom is doomed?"

A sudden glare was shot at me by the queen, and pressure on par with mine assaulted my body, causing me to take a knee. 

It seems like equipment really does make a difference. 

As soon as the pressure was released from my body and her bloodlust was retracted, I stood up before apologizing. 

"I apologize. I spoke too much," I say before taking my position back behind the queen. 

The queen's expression of anger soon turned cold once again before heaving a sigh. 

"*sigh*... Though, I don't want to admit it. You are right… This kingdom will eventually be doomed if a miracle doesn't happen," The queen says, but for some reason, her cold eyes didn't waver at the thought of the kingdom on the brink of eradication. 

Hmmmmm… Either she's great at hiding her emotions- no, that's not possible as she was angry just a second ago… So that means she's already prepared something in case this kingdom goes under. Or maybe she just doesn't feel like the kingdom will actually go under, and this her displaying great determination?

The queen clicks her tongue before speeding up down the hallway.

… 

Two guards clad in heavy metal armor push open the tall and massive wooden doors, revealing a massive throne room with the king already sitting on one of the two massive and grand thrones. 

The queen steps in as if this was her natural home, strutting elegantly across the red carpet while making her way up the few steps that allowed her to look down on anybody that enters the throne room. 

I followed right behind the queen with a cold expression to solidify my place within the room filled with nobles who resided along the bottom of the throne room and on a raised balcony lining the walls. 

Tump 

The queen sits down gracefully on the soft pillow without even batting the king a glance. 

I, on the other hand, stood directly beside her with my scythe sheathed behind my back, but I was ready to take it out at any moment. 

He looked exactly like how Yin described him, but it seems his skin was beginning to show signs of turning dark red while his pupils looked to be getting darker with each passing second. 

Judging from how Yin described the king, I could only compare him to a lion… but if I compare a lion to the man standing in front of me… that would be an insult as he's more like a ferocious dinosaur, starving for food. 

He also seems a bit taller than how Yin explained… he's reaching 7 feet in height now, and his muscles were practically exuding power, with his veins look like they are about to burst at any second. 

"The representative of the Kingdom of Fire will now enter!" A knight shouts as he walks towards the middle of the room before running off once the doors creaked open.

Tup Tup Tup 

A short fat man with short brown hair, pale white skin, and an ugly face imitating a pig walked into the throne room with two large guards standing beside him. 

"It is an honor to be in front of King Uxtan himself," The man says, bowing deeply before raising his head. 

"Speak, you should know we are in the middle of a war, so I don't have much time," The king announces with a voice that echoed through the room. 

"As you wish… I have come because we have suspected that one of your people poisoned our king, who is currently bedridden and on the brink of death," The fat man says with a slimy smile. 

What a lier… 

"Bring me proof," The king says. 

"Huh?" 

"Did you not just hear me! BRING PROOF IF YOU THINK OUR KINGDOM DID IT!" The king shouts in anger after being falsely accused. 

The fat man stumbles back from the king's sudden burst of anger.